BETHANY — In more ways than one, children and teens will be the focus of this year's Holocaust Remembrance Program coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City.

Edie Roodman, the federation's executive director, said the program, set for May 5, will highlight some of the youngest victims of the Holocaust.

Roodman said the remembrance program, titled “Remember Holocaust Children,” is being conducted in partnership with the Bethany School District.

She said the event is being held in the auditorium at Bethany High School.

“The Bethany School District has been extremely helpful to us,” she said. “They had a significant delegation go to Israel last fall, so that inspired them. They came back and wanted to be helpful.”

Roodman said not only will the program focus on the youngest Holocaust victims, but young people will play a major part in the entire program.

“It's 100 percent children,” she said.

Roodman told me she has been impressed with several groups of metro students these days.

She said she is pleased that the Bethany students have been inspired to action, but she also is thrilled that a group of Santa Fe South students recently performed the Holocaust-themed play “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.”

The play is based on the memories of a Holocaust survivor who lived in Czechoslovakia.

“I think it's pretty poignant that a school that has no Jewish students would put on a play that includes so many important issues,” she said.

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by Carla Hinton

Religion Editor

Carla Hinton, an Oklahoma City native, joined The Oklahoman in 1986 as a National Society of Newspaper Editors minority intern. She began reporting full-time for The Oklahoman two years later and has served as a beat writer covering a wide...